Eilistraee
| power = Lesser Power | homeplane = Elysium Pits of the Spider Queen | alignment = Chaotic good | dominion = Elysium (also the Pits of the Spider Queen) | portfolio = Beauty, Dance, Hunting, Moonlight, Song, Swordwork | worshipers = Good-aligned drow, hunters, surface-dwelling elves | cleric alignments = | domains = Chaos (Azata), charm (Love), good (Agathion, Darkness (moon), Travel (exploration | favored weapon = The Moonsword (bastard sword) }} Eilistraee (pronounced eel-iss-TRAY-yee ), also referred to as the Dark Maiden, was the chaotic good drow goddess of song, swordwork, hunting, the moon and beauty. She was greatly angered by the evil of most drow but glad that some worked their way free of the Spider Queen's web. Eilistraee appeared as an unclad, glossy-skinned drow woman of great height with ankle-length, sweeping hair of glowing silver. She was worshiped by song and dance, if at all possible, in the surface world under the moonlit night among the woods. She took great pleasure in bards learning new songs, craftsmen at work, and the doing of kindhearted deeds. History Eilistraee is a power that came elsewhere, but did not originate with the elves of Arvandor. She came, seeking to give solace to the few good drow of Lemurias. Eilistraee set up a domain on Elysium and started making herself known through prophets to the good drow. It was a success, and soon there were many good drow in Europa that worship Eilistraee. Relationships Eilistraee is relatively a new power in the land of Europa. She has not made any new relationships with the other gods of Paganism or Wotanism (or even heathenism). She is slowly making inroads. She has but one ally, the goddess of magic Mystra. Worshipers The cult of Eilistraee is little known among the pagans of Europa. She is one of the pagan gods, though, that promotes love amongst her worshippers rather than lust. Among her followers were Massalian elves (and also the human half-breeds of Massalian elves), humans, gnomes, and shapeshifters. Some non-drow worshipers of Eilistraee rubbed black dye into their skin. Activities The Cult of Eilistraee had an active proselyting program to other drow. Eilistraeean missionaries carried tiny swords to give out to drow in the Underdark that served as keys for safe passage to the temple. Artifacts ; The Crescent Blade : The Crescent Blade was a magical curved blade with a leather hilt. There was silver inlaid in the blade. On it were the Drow words, "Be your heart filled with light and your cause be true; I shall not fail you." It was said that Eilistraee plucked a pebble from the heavens and tossed it to earth. It grew as large as a boulder and very hot. It was made of moonmetal; if you look at the moon, you can see a hole in the shape of a crescent. The boulder was forged into a crescent-shaped blade with enchantments, including moonlight -- it could cut through armor and stone -- protection against evil, and being able to strike quickly. If the wielder was a true priestess, she could use it to sever the neck of any creature, including gods. Notable groups of followers ; Promenade of the Dark Maiden : ]] Located near Skullport, this was the main headquarters for the faithful of Eilistraee with many portals to other parts of the world but also access to tunnels into the Underdark for redemption missions.Lady Penitent trilogy The Promenade was led by High Priestess Qilué Veladorn, youngest of the Seven Sisters and Chosen of Mystra. She led the priestesses while also giving out missions when something needed her attention. Second to her was the Promenade's Battlemistress, Rylla. She led both the fierce warrior/priestesses of the Darksong Knights (who had training in demon-hunting), and Protectors of the Song, the group of elite warriors, often armed with one of the twenty magical singing swords, whose first duty was to guard the Promenade. All priestesses at the Promenade were free to do as they liked unless given a mission by either Qilué or Rylla. Although the Darksong knights had more independence they too were subject being given missions. Generally its clerics wore their hair long and dressed practically for whatever they were currently doing. For rituals, they wore as little as possible. Otherwise, they tended to wear soft leathers for hunting, aprons while cooking, and—rarely—armor when battle was expected. When relaxing, they favored silvery, diaphanous gowns. The holy symbol was a small sword; clerics preferred holy symbols of silver, typically worn as pins or hung around the neck on slender silver or mithral chains. They prayed for spells at night, after moonrise, singing them whenever possible. Their rituals revolved around a hunt followed by a feast, dancing, and a Circle of Song. This last was held preferably in a wooded glade on a moonlit night, in which the worshipers would sit and dance by turns in a circle, each one leading a song. ; Wildwinds Coven : A group of followers of Eilistraee in the High Forest, led by the drow Dolor in 1361 DR. ; Velarswood : A group of at least 50 Eilistraeeans, drow and otherwise, dwelt in the Velarswood near Harrowdale, where they had a temple in the northern part of the wood. More than fifty Eilistraeeans lived and worshiped in Velarswood, both drow and other elves. They often gathered in evensong in gratitude. They were creating a surface home there and generally had good relations with local humans, whom they aided when ill. Notable worshipers of Eilistraee * Cavatina Xarann, Darksong Knight. * Qilue Veladorn, Chosen of Eilistraee (and of Mystra). * Ysolde Veladorn, daughter of Qilue ; killed in 1361 DR. * Thorn, lythari champion of Eilistraee. * Seyll Auzkovyn, converted priestess (formerly of Lolth) in Cormanthor ; killed in 1372 DR by Halisstra Melarn. * Halisstra Melarn, briefly a priestess of Eilistraee and wielder of the Crescent Blade before returning to the worship of Lolth before her death. * Mathira Melarn, Sword Dancer from Ched Nasad. References Further Reading * * * * de:Eilistraee